07-16-2007, 02:54 AM
Salamun Alaikum,
Hadji:
Yes that is an interesting quote you have brought. That was the third doubt in Chapter 9 in which he says that there definitely exists some authentic traditions from AhlulBayt mentioning Tahrif in th Quran. Now if you were to stop reading here the natural conclusion you will come to is that Shias believe the Quran is altered in its text. But if you read on you will discover what he really meant.
Chapter 10 points out specific traditions. Chapter 11 then discusses the true meaning of the word tahrif as mentioned in the traditions.
Quote:It is abundantly clear from the last report quoted above that the word Tahrif (displacing the words of Allah from their rightful places) denotes the variations brought about by the qaris who most of the time based their mode of recitations on their own opinions. We have made it plain from the very outset that such a tampering has definitely occurred, where a particular Qari has read a particular word differently though without effecting any change in the original text or its essence. Whether we subscribe to the so called, seven modes of recitations or not, there is no doubt that such a tampering took place. In fact, there are many renderings, each based on the reader's guess and conjecture, which have changed the pronunciations and the recitations. In any case, this report does not support the view of Tahrif as the alteration, addition, omission or interpolation in the Qur'an.
The remaining traditions clearly point out that the word Tahrif used in them mean the misinterpretation of the verses. One of the results was that the excellence of Ahl ul-Bayt (‘a) was denied, and hostility towards them encouraged. This is further supported by the sermon of Imam Husayn (‘a) quoted above when those who were gathered to kill him are described as perpetrators of Tahrif.
Hence Tahrif was in Recitation style and interpretation not in the text itself. Al-Khoei makes it abundantly clear what is his position on alterations in the text of the quran in his final conclusion:
Quote:It is clear from what we have mentioned above that the question of interpolation or profanity occurring in the Qur'an is baseless, advocated by those who have poor judgement, or those who refuse to ponder, or those who are infatuated with the task of disproving the Qur'an ‑ and indeed, infatuation makes a person blind and deaf. A person with intellect and sense of justice can have no doubt about groundlessness of this presumption.